Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Crash.net:
Peter claims first pole at Monza opener
SATURDAY 9TH APRIL 2005
Switching to the controversial Maserati MC12 certainly paid dividends for the JMB Racing team at Monza, where Philipp Peter secured his first FIA GT pole at the opening round of the 2005 campaign.
Having seen the traditional opening day cancelled in deference to Pope John Paul's funeral, an impressive 28 cars took to the track, with a wide array of marques represented, including Corvette, Ferrari - with both 550 and 575 Maranellos - Lamborghini, Lister, Maserati, Mosler, Porsche and Saleen S7, entered by teams from eleven different countries, driven by drivers from 17 nationalities, including 23 former race winners.
Inclement conditions did little to help speed the development of set-ups, and times proved extremely close, with the top six cars, from four different teams, all within seven-tenths of a second. The group included four of the Maseratis that made such an impact at the end of 2004 and two Ferrari 550 Maranellos. Interestingly, two marques relatively new to the series - Lamborghini and Corvette - were close behind, suggesting that Sunday's three-hour, 500km race should be a close fought affair.
Despite only receiving the #16 Maserati in the week ahead of the event, and doing the shakedown during Thursday's test session, Peter claimed his first-ever series pole by lapping Monza in 1min 45.699secs during the first qualifying session.
"I am pretty happy," the Austrian admitted, "The programme for the car came together very late, but Maserati has given us a car which has been great from the beginning. There was no shakedown for the car before we got here, so this is quite a surprise."
Peter will start alongside the similar #9 Vitaphone Maserati, after Michael Bartels lapped just a tenth slower than the JMB machine.
"I am very happy with second position," the German insisted, "We are on the pace right way and, in these conditions, anything can happen. I think it is quite good base for the race tomorrow."
Third place on the grid went to the #17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 run by British outfit Cirtek Motorsport. Former series champion Christophe Bouchut set a best time just eight-hundredths slower than the Maseratis, belying the fact that his team only came together late in the pre-season.
"We are very happy, especially as this is a brand new team," Bouchut, who shares the blue 550 with Russians Alexei Vasiliev and Nikolai Fomenko, commented, "If we finish in the top ten tomorrow, we will be very pleased."
With reigning champions Scuderia Italia having departed for the LMES, Italian Ferrari honour was in short supply, with the leading GPC entry, of Jaime Melo and Jean-Phillipe Belloc, down in ninth. The gap between the red machine and the top four was filled by the second JMB Maserati, Larbre's 550 Maranello, the second Vitaphone MC12 and the Lamborghini which, now back in the hands of builder Reiter Engineering, performed better than it had in 2004. The GLPK Carsport Corvette filled eight place.
Tim Sugden claimed pole position in the GT2 class, and 16th overall, his lap of 1min 51.412secs good enough to lift the #88 Gruppe M Racing Porsche above early pacesetters Balfe Motorsport's Mosler.
"It is still very early days, but getting pole is great," the Briton said, "Obviously, in a three-hour race, it doesn't really matter where we are, but we are very happy."
Sugden was closely followed by the second Gruppe M car, qualified by newcomer - and the youngest FIA GT competitor of the race - Mike Rockenfeller. The German was three-tenths slower than his stablemate.
"It's a great result for the team, to be first and second," he said, "No-one knows what will happen tomorrow, also with the weather, it's really difficult at the moment. So I'm pretty happy. It's nice to be here."
Italian team Ebimotors, fielding the #74 Porsche driven by former race winner Luigi Moccia and Emanuele Busnelli, was third fastest in the category.
"Everything is going well, and I am really happy," Moccia said.
Competing in the G2 class, for cars competing in National GT Championships, the Balfe Mosler MT400 put in an excellent performance by qualifying just behind the two Gruppe M Porsches, and ahead of the Ebimotors car.
"We're incredibly pleased to be in this position in only our first qualifying performance," said lead driver Shaun Balfe, "We are definitely making progress. We realised at the test day how much hard work we have to put in, so third place is a nice award. My goal is to see the end of the race after the three hours, but I think the weather will be very difficult."
Peter claims first pole at Monza opener
SATURDAY 9TH APRIL 2005
Switching to the controversial Maserati MC12 certainly paid dividends for the JMB Racing team at Monza, where Philipp Peter secured his first FIA GT pole at the opening round of the 2005 campaign.
Having seen the traditional opening day cancelled in deference to Pope John Paul's funeral, an impressive 28 cars took to the track, with a wide array of marques represented, including Corvette, Ferrari - with both 550 and 575 Maranellos - Lamborghini, Lister, Maserati, Mosler, Porsche and Saleen S7, entered by teams from eleven different countries, driven by drivers from 17 nationalities, including 23 former race winners.
Inclement conditions did little to help speed the development of set-ups, and times proved extremely close, with the top six cars, from four different teams, all within seven-tenths of a second. The group included four of the Maseratis that made such an impact at the end of 2004 and two Ferrari 550 Maranellos. Interestingly, two marques relatively new to the series - Lamborghini and Corvette - were close behind, suggesting that Sunday's three-hour, 500km race should be a close fought affair.
Despite only receiving the #16 Maserati in the week ahead of the event, and doing the shakedown during Thursday's test session, Peter claimed his first-ever series pole by lapping Monza in 1min 45.699secs during the first qualifying session.
"I am pretty happy," the Austrian admitted, "The programme for the car came together very late, but Maserati has given us a car which has been great from the beginning. There was no shakedown for the car before we got here, so this is quite a surprise."
Peter will start alongside the similar #9 Vitaphone Maserati, after Michael Bartels lapped just a tenth slower than the JMB machine.
"I am very happy with second position," the German insisted, "We are on the pace right way and, in these conditions, anything can happen. I think it is quite good base for the race tomorrow."
Third place on the grid went to the #17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 run by British outfit Cirtek Motorsport. Former series champion Christophe Bouchut set a best time just eight-hundredths slower than the Maseratis, belying the fact that his team only came together late in the pre-season.
"We are very happy, especially as this is a brand new team," Bouchut, who shares the blue 550 with Russians Alexei Vasiliev and Nikolai Fomenko, commented, "If we finish in the top ten tomorrow, we will be very pleased."
With reigning champions Scuderia Italia having departed for the LMES, Italian Ferrari honour was in short supply, with the leading GPC entry, of Jaime Melo and Jean-Phillipe Belloc, down in ninth. The gap between the red machine and the top four was filled by the second JMB Maserati, Larbre's 550 Maranello, the second Vitaphone MC12 and the Lamborghini which, now back in the hands of builder Reiter Engineering, performed better than it had in 2004. The GLPK Carsport Corvette filled eight place.
Tim Sugden claimed pole position in the GT2 class, and 16th overall, his lap of 1min 51.412secs good enough to lift the #88 Gruppe M Racing Porsche above early pacesetters Balfe Motorsport's Mosler.
"It is still very early days, but getting pole is great," the Briton said, "Obviously, in a three-hour race, it doesn't really matter where we are, but we are very happy."
Sugden was closely followed by the second Gruppe M car, qualified by newcomer - and the youngest FIA GT competitor of the race - Mike Rockenfeller. The German was three-tenths slower than his stablemate.
"It's a great result for the team, to be first and second," he said, "No-one knows what will happen tomorrow, also with the weather, it's really difficult at the moment. So I'm pretty happy. It's nice to be here."
Italian team Ebimotors, fielding the #74 Porsche driven by former race winner Luigi Moccia and Emanuele Busnelli, was third fastest in the category.
"Everything is going well, and I am really happy," Moccia said.
Competing in the G2 class, for cars competing in National GT Championships, the Balfe Mosler MT400 put in an excellent performance by qualifying just behind the two Gruppe M Porsches, and ahead of the Ebimotors car.
"We're incredibly pleased to be in this position in only our first qualifying performance," said lead driver Shaun Balfe, "We are definitely making progress. We realised at the test day how much hard work we have to put in, so third place is a nice award. My goal is to see the end of the race after the three hours, but I think the weather will be very difficult."
